Merregon

Description

(From Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse - 2022):

The souls of fallen soldiers, mercenaries, and bodyguards who served evil without reservation often find everlasting servitude in the Nine Hells as merregons. These faceless foot soldiers are the Hells’ legionnaires, tasked with protecting their infernal plane and its rulers against intruders.

Merregons have no individuality and hence no need for faces. Every merregon legionnaire has a metal mask bolted to its head. Markings on the mask indicate the only elements of the wearer’s identity that matter: the commander it serves and the layer of the Nine Hells it protects.

Because of their unshakable loyalty, merregons form the backbone of many devils’ protective retinues. They shrink from no task, no matter how dangerous. Unless ordered to fall back, they never retreat from a fight.

(From 4th edition Monster Manual - 2008):

The armies of the nine hells are largely made up of legion devils—cruel, pitiless warriors that gather in countless numbers from the scorched plains of Avernus to the deepest chasms of Nessus. Brutally disciplined, legion devils haven’t the slightest regard for their own existence and live to crush their masters’ foes beneath their iron-shod heels.

Legion devils are regimented soldiers that work together to overwhelm foes. They can teleport short distances to gain flanking or position itself adjacent to an ally in order to gain the squad defense benefit.

Battalions of legion devils can be found as guards in evil temples, troops in the service of evil overlords, or marauders laying waste to defenseless lands.

(From Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells - 2006):

This creature is humanoid in shape, with deep red skin. It wears studded leather armor and a chain coif, and it sports a vicious snarl that reveals sharp teeth. It carries a longsword in one hand. Its other arm ends in a bloated, iron-studded forearm with a small, withered hand hanging from its end.

Merregons are Hell’s weakest foot soldiers, warriors that serve in vast, endless legions. They overwhelm their enemies by working together as an effective team.

Legion devils live an existence similar to mortals. They require barracks, training grounds, and other support to fi ght effectively. On Avernus, thousands of legion devil barracks stretch from horizon to horizon. At the first sign of an attack, or before a major incursion from Hell, the ranks of legion devils can take days to march from their encampments to a battle site. 

Environment: Legion devils are native to the Nine Hells of Baator. They are relentless in their duty and rarely stray from their encampments. If a legion devil isn’t on guard duty, it is practicing its weapon skills, studying tactics, cleaning the barracks, or performing some other assignment. 

Typical Physical Characteristics: A legion devil stands 6 feet tall and weighs 170 pounds. All legion devils look identical to one another.

Society: Legion devils are the utter ideal of law within Hell. They are utterly loyal, fearless, and perfectly routine in their lives. They go through strictly regimented schedules each day, patrolling, marching in formation, practicing, and maintaining their camps. Smart adventurers learn to carefully observe a legion devil camp. Once an observer has determined the legion devils’ schedule, he can be sure that they will follow it exactly again and again, at least until something disrupts the routine. 

Alignment: Legion devils are always lawful evil. They are utterly dedicated to their duties within Hell’s armies

Combat: Individually, a legion devil is relatively weak. When encountered in numbers, they are formidable opponents who can easily overwhelm powerful foes. While legion devils are dim-witted brutes, they seem to form a sort of group mind when gathered together for battle. They fight with uncanny cunning, coordination, and tactical insight.

In combat, legion devils readily adapt to the situation they face. They prefer to move in tightly clustered groups, the better to take advantage of their many special abilities. They attempt to swarm toward a foe and overpower him with sheer numbers. Their immunity to fear is reflected in their brutal disregard for casualties. Even as screaming orbs of energy rip into their ranks and voracious demons rip through their regiments, the legion devils fight on.

Legion’s Strength (Su): Legion devils combine their physical vitality into one single pool of strength. In many battles, legion devils seem to absorb blow after blow, fighting on despite massive injuries, until a single decisive attack against one causes all of them to fall to the ground, slain. Legion devils combine their hit points into one large pool. Any damage that a legion devil takes comes from this hit point pool. If the pool is reduced to 0, all the legion devils in it immediately die. A legion devil gains the pool’s benefits as long as it remains within 100 feet of the rest of the group. If forced to move farther away, the legion devil reclaims some of its hit points. Divide the hit points in the pool by the number of devils in the group. The devil forced out of the group gains that many hit points, and the pool loses a like number. If the share is less than 1, the devil immediately dies and the pool does not lose any points. By the same token, if any devil receives healing apply it to the devils’ total pool. 

Legion’s Defenses (Su): If a spell, supernatural ability, or other effect that allows a saving throw targets more than one legion devil, all the devils use the highest d20 result rolled by the group. If three legion devils are caught in a fireball and the d20 rolls for their saves are 17, 5, and 8, all three devils use 17 as the result of their roll before adding any modifiers. 

Legion’s Mind (Su): If a mind-affecting spell or ability targets a single legion devil, the devil and all other devils within 60 feet make saving throws against it. If any devil succeeds, all the devils succeed. If all the devils fail, they all suffer the effect of a failed save. 

Shield Arm (Ex): The left arm of a legion devil is enlarged and heavily armored, providing it with a +3 shield bonus to its Armor Class. A legion devil can also use this arm to make a bashing attack as a secondary weapon. A legion devil does not lose its arm’s shield bonus when it attacks in this manner. An arm bash deals 1d6 points of bludgeoning damage.

Legion’s Battle Skill (Ex): Trained and experienced in working together, legion devils gain a +4 bonus on attack rolls for every other legion devil within 60 feet. 

Legion’s Advance (Su): As a move action, a legion devil can immediately teleport to a space adjacent to any other legion devil within 100 feet. The legion devil can continue its turn after using this ability as normal. 

Summon Baatezu (Sp): Once per day, a legion devil can attempt to summon another legion devil with a 35% chance of success. This ability is the equivalent of a 3rd level spell (CL 5th).